Filming in County Armagh

I thought I'd better update this blog on how our first full day of filming went.

Although we had filmed some bits and pieces in County Armagh over the 12th of July period, last week we completed our first sit down interview with David McMullen from CACD. (County Armagh Community Development)

I met with David many months ago during my researching and networking for the project. He and CACD were very warm, welcoming and open. Their attitude and interest in engaging with the project was exciting, particularly after being told many times that "you'll find it very difficult to get protestants to engage".

In fact, so far, I have found quite the opposite to be true.

When we held our information session in Newtownhamilton in April, we got a good turnout and several of them were very keen to tell their personal story and experiences.

And so the development of our first film began as more people from the area agreed to participate in our project. We decided over the summer that our first film would focus on the area of Newtownhamilton, Keady and Markethill.

Some of you might question our inclusion of Markethill because it isn't that close to the border. However, the stories in the film will answer any question over this choice as many participants are from the border but now live in Markethill (12 miles from the border).

Our first filmed interview was with David. He has been working in community development for years as well as continuing his work as a part time farmer. He is also a member of the Orange Order and lives close to the border. David is excellent at giving some context to the area and the feelings and issues that have affected and continue to affect the local protestant population there.

In the afternoon, we followed him to a successful community project in Aughnagurgan Orange Hall.

CACD was instrumental in starting up the 'Thursday club' project which tours between 3 rural orange hall venues. Each one formed a committee and they are now self sufficient, separate to the Orange Lodge. They apply for their own funding when necessary and have approximately 50 attendees each week.

We filmed the tea dance and interviewed some of the people there. It was really a lovely afternoon and fantastic to see such a turn out to an event in a very rural area. More so, fantastic to see the groups' ownership of the project.

I'd like to thank David, everyone at CACD and everyone we met in Aughnagurgan. It was a truly inspiring beginning to our interviews and filming.

Six films

Wow, the weeks keep flying by and I realise it's been three since I updated this blog. Today I've been thinking more about the areas that Border Lives will focus on. By areas, I mean geographical.

During my research, it sometimes felt like a huge task to narrow down the focus of the project to just six areas. I'll admit there are days that it still does. However, I feel like we are getting there gradually and almost like reading tea leaves, it is becoming clearer each week.

The main criteria in choosing areas for a film has been the interest and engagement from the people there. It was crucially important when I started this project that we approach it in a way that is sensitive. Therefore I spent many months meeting people and groups all along the border and beyond. (In fact I am still doing this so get in touch if you'd like to meet me!)

The fact that this project is covering such a wide geographical area, I wanted to ensure the involvement of existing organisations. I didn't want to be seen to be entering an area without going through the proper channels and learning from those who know a lot more than me about the people and areas where they have been dedicated to working in for many years.

In doing so, I not only learned an incredible amount about each area but it began to show me which areas were more willing and more interested in engaging with a project such as this.

The first film that we are beginning to film and develop will be based in the areas of Markethill, Newtownhamilton and Keady. This takes in Darkley and Tullyvallen as well. The focus of this film will most likely be the Protestant experience on the border.

The reason we have chosen to do this is because we made a strong link with County Armagh Community Development who work closely with Orange Halls and the Protestant community there. I met with some of the members several months ago. They made me feel so welcome and really understood what we were trying to achieve with Border Lives. They told me stories then and we continue to hear stories each time we meet with them. It's a pleasure to speak with the people there, hear what they have to say and see the positive community work that they are all doing there.

We are still discussing the focus of the other films but we can see areas such as:

- Forkhill/Crossmaglen 

- Clones/Roslea

- Belleek/Garrison/Rossinver 

- Clady/Lifford/Strabane 

all featuring.

As we begin to film this month, I will also be planning some information evenings and trying to partner with groups along the border for this. I have some funding available to organise them and would love to hear from any groups that might like to host us for an evening.

I can be contacted at s.bryden@tyronedonegalpartnership.org or call +44(0)28 8225 2112.